Life On Cars Magazine Issue Nine!

THE LATEST edition of the Life On Cars magazine is ready!

As ever it's packed with motoring features and news aplenty - including a round up of some of the stars of this year's Geneva Motorshow - and a look at two very different British sports cars.

Hope you enjoy it...

Open publication - Free publishing - More cars

If Darth Vader drove a car...

THE same people who brought you the Micra and the Almera have just fitted wheels to an SR-71 spyplane.

This, believe it or not, is not the next Batmobile, but a racing car which Nissan is going to campaign at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. The DeltaWing, the company reckons, will weigh half as much as a normal racer and have half the drag. And, presumably, twice the wow factor.

Andy Palmer, executive vice president of Nissan, said:

“As motor racing rulebooks have become tighter over time, racing cars look more and more similar and the technology used has had less and less relevance to road car development. Nissan DeltaWing aims to change that and we were an obvious choice to become part of the project.

“But this is just the start of our involvement. Nissan DeltaWing embodies a vast number of highly-innovative ideas that we can learn from. At the same time, our engineering resources and commitment to fuel efficiency leadership via our PureDrive strategy will help develop DeltaWing into a testbed of innovation for Nissan.”


Admittedly, it's not a classified entrant - so technically, it can't win the race anyway - and it's only got a 1.6 litre engine, but because they've bolted an enormous turbocharger it still manages to pump out an impressive 300bhp. Not that any of that matters, because while it's purportedly acting as a technological testbed the thing absolutely everyone will be talking about is that body.

As a sort of cross between an SR-71 spyplane, a Le Mans racer and something out of the Star Wars films I think it looks fabulous.

You probably disagree. Let me know...

Ormskirk MotorFest 2012 will be free of charge for classic car and bike owners

A MOTORSPORT spectacular will remain free to take part when it returns to the streets of Ormskirk later this summer, petrolheads have been told this week.

Aintree Circuit Club confirmed this week that when the Ormskirk MotorFest returns on Sunday, August 26 it will be free for both participants and visitors, following the announcement of a £10,000 sponsorship deal with the Belfry Group.

Mike Ashcroft, chairman of Aintree Circuit Club, said: "Aintree Circuit Club and West Lancashire Borough Council are delighted that the event has managed to attract this level of support in difficult economic times and wish to express their sincere thanks to Belfry Group Managing Director, Keith Rimmer, for his commitment to Ormskirk Motorfest.

"The event will continue to be completely free to attend or participate. You will be able to complete your Entry Application Form online, without the need to email. There will also be a facility to download your Application Form for entrants who wish to send their form by post."

Last year's inaugural event attracted more than 200 classic cars and bikes - with more than 90% of the entrants coming from the Sefton and West Lancashire areas - while more than 10,000 people visited Ormskirk to see the displays and parades.

For more information on how to enter visit the Aintree Circuit Club website at www.aintree.org.uk

A Volvo to be proud of

IT'S always nice to see a classic car being used by its owners for everyday chores, particularly if it's one as clean and cherished as this beautiful '65 Volvo.

This sober Swedish saloon - which I think is a 121 Amazon, although I could be wrong - is a brilliant example of what Volvos used to look like before their designers discoverd Etch-a-Sketch had been invented, and arguably you can see influences of it in today's rather sleeker and sportier offerings, including the latest V40.

If you own this classic Volvo by all means get in touch - I'd love to know more about it. I'm sad to admit it, but it made my lunch break seeing it on a Southport street otherwise packed with Astras and old Escorts.

A new magazine on the way

EAGLE-eyed readers will have already seen that work is underway on a new issue of the web magazine.

It's been a while - last Christmas, in fact - since the last issue came out, but with the weather getting a bit warmer and all sorts of interesting cars coming out of hibernation it's probably the right time to look into some great motoring stories in a bit more depth, not least the mad Morgan Threewheeler I got a taste of couple of weeks ago.

Watch this space...

The class of 1994 was brilliant for car classifieds

SO THE Champion's 18 this week. Your favourite local paper can, among other things, legally get the drinks in without worrying about being asked for its ID by the bloke behind the bar.

I've been celebrating the anniversary by working away on the special birthday supplement you'll find delivered with this week's edition - a task which meant trawling through the thousands of papers we've put out over the years, to uncover all those juicy front page splashes hidden away in our secretive and extensive archives.

It's a pity then I ended up hooked on a rather different bit of Champion history - the car classifieds. If, like me, you're one of those weirdos who still finds the Auto Trader strangely absorbing (and I don't mean the coarse, inky paper it's printed on either), then you'd love looking through the secondhand bargains Champ readers were prepared to flog you all those years ago.

Yes, it's true that when the first ever Champion was published the number one single was Mariah Carey's tragically bad cover of Without You, but I would have put up with that to buy a clean Capri Ghia for £550. The same car today, now considered a bit of classic, is four or five times that. You could take your pick from a host of very tidy original Minis for between £500 and £600, and - if you weren't that desperate to get anywhere in a hurry - a slightly ropey Citroen 2CV with eight months' MOT was yours for £250. If only there was a way of somehow transporting these then-unwanted motors from 1994 to 2012, because all these old stagers are very sought after these days.

Even more annoyingly cheap were 1994's brand new arrivals. Would sir be tempted, for instance, by a lovely Alfa 155, which in The Champion's first week was yours for just £13,577? The same money these days would struggle to get you into a mid-range (and much smaller) MiTo. I know the class of 1994 were only just being introduced to electric windows and airbags, but they still got a lot more for their money then you do now. You could also experience the thrills of driving a Fiat Coupe or a Volkswagen Corrado without having to peel the boiled sweets out of the ashtrays. Then again, if you'd ventured into a Ford showroom at the time there's a very good chance you'd have ended up lumbered with an Escort.

So to celebrate The Champion's big anniversary I've decided things were better in the good old days. Maybe I'll think differently in 18 years' time...

Fire up the... Morgan Threewheeler

IT'S A new model for the Worcestershire-based sports car builders but not in the conventional sense.

By ditching a rear wheel Morgan are revisiting territory they first trod a century ago, when the company appealed to the newfangled worlds of motoring and biking by fitting tiny little two-seaters with V-twin engines and minimal bodywork. Think of the new Threewheeler, then, as a remake of one of Britain’s oldest automotive adventures.

You’d think that’d make the Threewheeler a frantic bit of fun and it is - but only when you’re happy for it come out to play. Admittedly, it’s not a car you’d ever want to take to Waitrose and if it rains you WILL get wet but for such an outlandish and overt bit of automotive engineering it’s remarkably civil, and it’ll dawdle along as long as you like.

But plant your foot to the floor in just about any gear and the so-bonkers-it’s-brilliant Threewheeler unleashes its considerable firepower in an explosion of noise and speed, which you’re all the more aware of because the wind’s hitting you straight in the face and because absolutely everyone for miles around is looking at you. If they aren’t, they’ll definitely hear you coming.


Despite being friendlier and more manageable than I could’ve have hoped for - at first you’ll wonder where those beautiful wire wheels at the front are, but you get used to it - it is completely unlike anything I’ve driven before. It is a sort of cross between the open-air buzz of a microlight and the vintage style of a Sopwith Camel fighter plane with the deep-throated roar of an old TVR and the sheer punch of a motorbike thrown in.

So it’s my kind of car and - at £30,000 - actually cheaper than the more conventional four-wheelers Morgan fans already know and love.

A full feature on the Threewheeler will appear in the Spring edition of Gr8Life Magazine.